Every summer I start from zero at our community pool with a goal to become a US Olympic swimmer.  I’m faithful to do a few laps, but I don’t think I’m anywhere near mastery.

This past week I started counting my breaths across the pool.  I was hitting 12 to 13 as I splashed and struggled through the water. Then I was intentional about what little I know about form, and suddenly, I had reduced that count to 10 breaths over 25 meters.  I realized swimming could be a whole lot easier, a whole lot more enjoyable for me, if I’ll do a little work to concentrate on doing it right and work on the basics.

Is this just like my work?  Am I struggling in areas where I could have mastery if I’d pay attention to form?  Am I making it harder on myself because I’m content to stay where I am?  I want to be excellent in what I choose to do. It is confronting to see that at times I’m not efficient with my energy when I become stagnant in my thinking about change and improvement.  My comfort zone can make me numb, and I become OK with status quo and current process, even when it’s killing me to do it the same way.

So, here’s to swimming and the lessons learned from bilateral breathing (my only swimming jargon).